Oil composition and method of making the same



Patented July 16, 1935 PATENT OFFICE 2,008,419 OIL COMPOSITION AND DIETHOD OF MAKING THE SAME Samuel-M. Herman, Brooklyn, N. Y.

No Drawing.

12 Claims.

Thls invention relates to improvements in the manufacture of compositions comprising one or more oils or fats of mineral, vegetable or animal origin, associated with one or more oxidized 5 and/or polymerized oils or fats of any of the stated classes, with or without the addition of other substances. For convenience animal (including fish) and vegetable oils will be referred to herein as organic oils, as distinguished from 10 mineral oil (petroleum,'shale oil and the like). The organic oils are according to this invention oxidized or polymerized to artificially increase the acidity. Mineral oil (but not wax) which has been oxidized to produce organic acids and other oxygenated bodies therein is to be considered an oil having artificially increased acidity for the purposes of the present description.

The products made by the present invention belong in general to the classes of soluble oils, i. e. oils which are emulsifiable with water to form permanent or semi-permanent suspensions, and moistening oils, i. e. those which are not so readily emulsifiable but contain water capable of being imparted to textile fibers.

The field of application for such classes of oils is wide. For the sake of example, the description herein has been limited mostly to the use of the improved compositions for the treating of textile fibers, furs, leather, etc.,' such as the oiling of silk (artificial and natural), wool and cotton, and for scouring, dyeing and finishing.

Various other uses of the compositions, such as for detergents, mordants, lubricants, cutting oils and the like, will be readily apprehended by those skilled in the art.

It has long been the practice to lubricate textile fibers in braiding, spinning, carding and similar operations, and numerous materials have been suggested for this purpose. Mineral oil is favored as a textile lubricant by many mills. xidized (air-blown) vegetable oils, especially rape oil, have been used in this connection, but not, so far as I am aware, in high percentages as solubilizing agents of the type described herein.

The present invention is based on the discovery that oxidized or polymerized organic oils (partially or wholly saponified) have the property of solubilizing mineral oils and organic oils or serving as carriers for the same. It has heretofore been attempted to use oleic acid (red oil), in the form of an alkali metal soap, for this purpose. This can be done where a high degree of acidity is not objectionable, but the field for such compositions is very limited. In most cases the acidity must be kept low. Oleic acid, it saponi- Application October 24, 1931 Serial No. 570,976

fied to lower the acidity to the required point, will not serve adequately as a carrier for mineral oil. Mineral oil compositions containing saponified oleic acid are usually prepared by treating the acid with alcoholic solutions of potassium hydroxide. The compositions are unstable because the alcohol is lost by evaporation. In the compositions described herein oleic acid is sometimes recommended, but not for solubilizing.

' In the following Formula I-IV, the use ofthe invention in connection with mineral oil will be described.

Blown or polymerized organic oils, especially vegetable oils, may be partially or completely saponified (all free acidity removed) and yet be capable of solubilizing substantial amounts of mineral oil. The invention will be further described in connection with certain typical compositions.

An emulsifiable oil well adapted for use as a textile lubricant is prepared according to the following:

In this composition the mineral oil has preferably a Saybolt viscosity of about 200 to 350 seconds at 100 F. In general it is desirable to use a technical white oil. For many purposes, however, a high degree of purity in the oil is not required and a yellowish color is not objectionable.

The rape oil has preferably, after air blowing,

a viscosity of about 300 seconds Saybolt and an acidity of about 6%. Viscosities of about 200- 600 are permissible. The acidity may be between 3 and 12% for varying purposes. The amount of potassium hydroxide added is suflicient to saponify as much of the oil as is necessary to carry the mineral oilinto emulsion with water. A striking characteristic of blown oils is the ease with which they may be saponified simply by mixing with the alkali. No heating is ordinarily required. Also, the amount of oxidation is readily controlled. This is not the case in the use of rancid oils which are of highly variable acidity. Various alkalis such as sodium hydroxide, ethanolamines, especially triethanolamine, etc. may be used as neutralizing agents, but potassium hydroxide is preferred.

Oleic acid may be used to add acidity if nec- 55 2 2,008,419 essary. The oleic acid may be of the commercial grade known as red oil.

The composition as described is readily emulsifiable in water, either cold or hot and in all proportions. The emulsified product is almost transparent, indicating an extreme fineness of emulsion. This property is particularly desirable for use in textile lubrication as it insures rapid and complete penetration of the fiber by the lubricant. After the fiber has passed through the various operations in the mill, the lubricant can be readily removed by washing with warm water. The fiber is left in a soft condition. It is unnecessary to use any soap or other scouring agent to remove the lubricant from the fibers.

The composition may be modified by substituting for some or all of the mineral oil a solvent or a wax if it is desired to produce scouring products or finishing products. The solvent may be benzol or other aromatic hydrocarbons and the wax may be any of the products commonly used for similar purposes, such asparafline, stearine, etc.

For example, a type of composition made as just described may be as follows:

This composition is a clear, oily liquid which is immediately emulsiflable in cold or hot water. It has excellent cleansing action due to its high penetrating power and the evolution of the naphtha when the water is heated. The composition may be used either alone or with any suitable soap to remove dirt and grease from textile fibers and other substances.

- A cutting-oil may be prepared by substituting for the naphtha in Formula II, the same amount of a heavier mineral oil such as described in connection with Formula I. White mineral oil may be substituted for the naphtha to produce a lubricant for the textile industry. This is a satisfactory product and is somewhat cheaper than Formula I.

In general it may be said that the quantity of mineral oil may vary between and 20 per cent of the total weight of the product and the blown organic oil from 20 to 80 per cent. For the purposes of this invention, numerous other organic oils arethe equivalents of blown rape oil. Among these may be mentioned cottonseed oil, castor oil, colza oil (summer rape oil), neatsfoot oil, linseed oil, fish oil, and the like. These oils may be used either individually or in any desired admixtures with or without oleic acid.

Another form of the invention is an-oil of the moistening type. These oils are adapted for use in treating textile fibers. I have found that a small quantity of water present in the oil will moisten the fiber and make it more readily handied in the machines. A preferred composition is as follows:

Formula III Parts by weight White mineral oil, 200-300 Saybolt viscosity at F 850 Blown rape oil 100 Potassium hydroxide (45 Baum) 5 Water 50 In compositions of this type the rape oil or other organic oil is saponified only to a slight degree. The composition is not substantially emulsiflable with water, but this is not objectionable for the purposes to which the composition is to be put.

As an example of the use of polymerized oils according to the present invention, the following is given:

Formula IV Parts by weight Polymerized linseed oil 1500 Mineral oil 1500 Ethyl alcohol 100 Potassium hydroxide (45 Baum) 30 The mineral oil may be of the type described in connection with Formulas I and III. The composition is water soluble and is well adapted for treating textile fibers. The linseed oil serves to hold the mineral oil on the fibers.

The method of manufacturing the composition is in general as follows:

It will be unnecessary to describe in detail the operation of blowing or oxidizing and polymerizing organic oils, as this is well understood in the art. For many years it has been the practice to thicken such oils by passing air through them at high temperature, whereby a relatively high degree of acidity is attained. The resulting blown oils have been saponified and used for soaps, lubricants and other purposes. So far as' I am aware, however, it was not known prior to my invention that they had the unexpected property of solubilizing mineral oils in the manner described herein.

In general, the polymerizing process is carried on at lower temperatures than oxidation and the acidity of the polymerized product is usually rather low. Oils may be polymerized by heating them to somewhat below their boiling point in an open vessel. Ordinarily no injection of air or other agitating means is used. Like the oxidized oils polymerized oils are characterized by a higher viscosity and acidity than the untreated oils. For the purposes of the present invention these two types of oil are often equivalent and they will be referred to generically in the claims as oils having artificially increased acidity. When reference is made to base oil, it is intended that substantially unoxidized and unsaponified mineral and organic oils shall be included.

The oxidized or polymerized oil is stirred with the aqueous caustic preferably at temperatures not higher than 212 F. When the saponification has proceeded to the desired extent, the mineral oil is added. The oleic acid may be incorporated after the saponification of the blown oil. It is highly important to use caustic of sufficient strength to secure the desired saponification. It will be found that equivalent amounts of caustic in dilute and concentrated solutions will not produce the same result. Desirable concentrations are mentioned above, but these may be varied somewhat according to circumstances. The adjustment of concentration may be made by simple experiments following the information given herein.

The acidity or alkalinity of the product is controlled so as to prevent or minimize corrosion. The tendency to corrosion varies with the conditions, especially the metal operated on and the water used in making up the composition. For example, the hydrogen ion value may be As illustrative of the use of the invention in connection with solubilizing organic oils, the following formulae are given:

Formula V Parts by weight Neats-foot oil Blown rape nil Potassium hydroxide (45 Baum) 30 Formula VI follows:

Parts by weight Blown rape nil V 100 Potassium hydroxide (45 Baum) 15 In this composition the blown --rape oil is in part saponified by the potassium hydroxide. One-half or more of the rape oil may be considered to be solubilized by the resulting potassium compound. This composition is also adapted for treating textile fibers and for similar purposes.

Various changes may be made in the foregoing description within the scope of the appended claims, in which it is my desire to claim all novelty inherent in the invention as broadly as the prior art permits.

I claim:

1. A composition comprising a mineral oil having a Saybolt viscosity of about 200 to 350 seconds at 100 F. and partially or wholly saponified oxidized rape oil in amount suflicient to render the mineral oil readily emulsifiable in water.

2. A composition according to claim 1, in which.

the mineral oil is of the technical grade not darker than yellow.

' 3. A composition according to claim 1, in which the oxidized rape oil has a viscosity of about 300 seconds Saybolt at 100 F. r

4. A composition comprising a mineral oil, a

partially saponified oxidized vegetable oil and completely unsaponified oleic acid.

5. A composition comprising a mineral oil having a Saybolt viscosity of about 200 to 350 seconds at 100 F., parts by weight; oxidized rape oil, 100 parts by weight; potassium hydroxide (45 Baum), 50 parts by weight; and oleic acid, 40 parts by weight.

6. A composition comprising water, mineral oil and oxidized vegetable oil saponified to produce a hydrogen ion value in the finished emulsion of about 5 to 9.

- 7. A soluble oil composition, comprising a base oil, and a vegetable oil having artificially increased acidity and saponified at least in part with caustic alkali, such oil containing saponified compounds being present in amount suflicient to render the base oil readily emulsifiable in water.

8. A composition according to claim 7 in which rape oil is used.

9. A soluble oil composition, comprising a substantially unsaponifled mineral oil liquid at ordinary temperatures, and an oil selected from the class consisting of vegetable, animal and fish oils having artificially increased acidity and alkali saponified at least in part, such oil containing saponified compounds being present in amount sufllcient to render the mineral oil readily emulsifiable in water.

10. A soluble oil composition, comprisingbetween 80% and 20% by weight of a substantially unsaponified mineral oil, and 20% and 80% of partially or wholly saponified oxidized organic oil selected from the class consisting of vegetable, animal and flsh oils.

11. An emulsion comprising water containing a mineral-oil solubilized by the presence of a partially or wholly saponified oxidized organic oil selected from the class consisting of vegetable,

- animal and fish oils.

12. A moistening oil, comprising mineral oil, a blown organic oil saponified to a small extent only, and a minor proportion of water, the composition being. adapted to lubricate textile fibers.

SAMUEL M. HERMAN. 

